SOE President Vows to "Hunt Down" Planetside 2 Hackers

[Timothy Chang]

SOE President Vows to "Hunt Down" Planetside 2 Hackers

John Smedley warns that Sony will "find you and your family" if you use cheats in the game.

When a cheater can sprint across maps at ridiculous speeds and pull off headshots at will, it tends to ruin the game for everyone else. Planetside 2 is no exception, with plenty of hacking complaints on the official forums. Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley seems to have had enough, unleashing a heated tirade on Twitter claiming that Planetside 2 hackers will be "hunted down" and banned.

Smedley started off by stating that anyone using aimbots would eventually be caught, and that detected hackers were "being banned left and right". He also encouraged users to report any alleged hackers for investigation.

"We have guys who's (sic) purpose in life is to ban the bad guys and dumbasses that use hacking tools," he continues. "We aren't commenting on the methods (used to detect hackers). Needless to say we have a lot of ways to accomplish a goal."

A user stated that hackers could simply create a new account and have their hack updated, but Smedley coolly replied, "Let me know how that goes for them."

The next day, Smedley revealed that "Haruhi at artificialaiming.com" and all their associated accounts had been banned.

"Goodbye you scumbag," he said. "Find a new hobby or get good at the game."

When asked whether SOE could cross reference the names found on the hacking website to take down more cheaters, Smedley insisted that it wasn't necessary. "Use it.. we'll find you. We'll find your family. We'll hunt you down."

The hackers discussion thread on the official Planetside 2 forums [http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/hackers.57988/] has since been locked, stating that official comments on the progress of getting hackers can be found on Smedley's Twitter account.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-12-05-soe-boss-smedley-goes-to-war-on-scumbag-planetside-2-cheaters]

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[TheComfyChair]

I like that guy's attitude

 

[Fasckira]

Cue John getting abducted at a conference, dragged into the toilets by waiters and being told he will call off his rigorous investigation into the hackers, that hes going to publicly state there are no hackers or they will take his balls. They will then inform him that the hackers he is after he depends on; they cook his meals, they haul his trash, they connect his calls, drive his ambulances. They guard him while he sleeps.

Fair play to the guy though, good to see the attitude though its perhaps a tad overkill (mentioning family? really? ).

 

[Daystar Clarion]

We'll find you, we'll find your family, we will hunt you down, and we will kill y-what? What do you mean we can't do that?!

Love this guy's attitude

 

[Andy Shandy]

And with that statement I now have the image of this man

In a forest sneaking up on random people and slitting their throats then shouting "HACKER!!!" at the top of his lungs.

Either that or I'm reminded of Taken.

"We will hunt you, we will find you and we will ban you from our game"

"...Good luck"

 

[mruuh]

It's "cheater", not "hacker". Hacker would perhaps be the guy who develops the cheat, not the thousands of kiddies who follow his 1,2,3 instructions and use the cheat in game.

 

[Yelchor]

While I see the company taking decisive action in order to keep the game secure as a good thing, I think the quote mentioning "family" was out of line. I know it's intended more as a joke, but I doubt the hackers' families are involved in any way. It simply doesn't have anything to do with them. The comment implies that the responsible's family will be targeted as well for... a talk? Punishment? It's so vauge I have little to no clue of what he means. Regardless, you don't involve someone's relatives in real life over something they had nothing to do with by implying them as equally valid targets as the hackers themselves.

Might not be a big deal, but it looks like a risky choice of word(s).

 

[frobalt]

[spoiler"-snip-"]That was the most beautiful thing I ever seen.

Yeah, fuck those hackers. Who would have a computer play for him? Where is the fun?

And those guys take the titles away from the good gamers who don't rely on script kiddie bull crap.[/spoiler]

Well, there are many reasons people hack:

1. The obvious one, because they're no good at the game and want to get better without practising.
2. They're just pricks that like to piss others off.
3. They're bored of the game and wanna spice things up a bit.


There are probably other reasons people hack as well, but the point is, unfortunately people do get their jollies from not playing by the rules.

 

[cidbahamut]

Those seem like unprofessional statements to be making. The sentiment might be understandable, but you shouldn't be making those kinds of statements publicly.

 

[The Last Melon]

"We'll find your family. We'll hunt you down" hahahaaa what

Seriously, though, are you even allowed to say that as the President of a company? Seems just a touch out of line, doesn't it?

 

[MrPeanut]

Those seem like unprofessional statements to be making. The sentiment might be understandable, but you shouldn't be making those kinds of statements publicly.

Well Smedley is class A retard.

OT: Uhhh...better luck next time hackers?

 

[surg3n]

Fuck professionalism.

This is videogaming, not politics, not business - hackers ruin the gaming experience for other players, that's what every hacker/cheater does. It might be different if the hacks were entertaining, but no, they aren't spawning parachute cows like in DayZ, they are simply cheating with no shame. There seems to be a whole generation of gamers who miss the point. The fun, for me at least in games like Planetside2, is actually co-operating with other players to achieve a goal, when there are a few players working together on the same thing, the game becomes really a lot of fun. Cheaters ruin that, SOE are sick of that, fair and legitimate gamers are sick of that.

I appreciate honesty far more than I appreciate professionalism, because all that boils down to is political correctness, and all that often boils down to is pandering to over-sensitive blow-hards who don't see the big picture, they just see what might be offending them. In practically any other activity, cheating is seen as a sign of weakness and deception, which should apply to videogames. I say we should adopt a Vegas attitude to cheaters, shame them, beat them, ban them - whatever it takes to make the gaming experience better for honest and fair gamers.

 

[kajinking]

Yeah I can understand the feelings on this after playing PS2 since the Beta and going roughly 23-0 along with two other guys against one lone guy who seemed to always know where we were and could instantly headshot 3 people in less than second with 100% accuracy

 

[Bostur]

The family remark was slightly over the line, but otherwise it's refreshing to hear a clear stance. I wish Smedley and his hackerhunting team the best of luck.

I have a feeling hackers are a very small minority but they can still turn a game community sour in no time. The doubt is the worst part of it. Accusations run rampant if hacks aren't dealt with in time.

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

Godspeed, you magnificent bastard.

Seriously though, I like this man's goals, I like his approach, and I wish him the best of luck in this endeavor.